Dangerous Games (25 page)

“I have my reasons for keeping secrets,” he said softly, without even looking at me.

“And I’ve just about had enough of your secrets and lies. You could have saved the Directorate so much time and energy if you’d just told us what you knew from the beginning.”

Not to mention the fact that his admission might have prevented my needing to fuck the creep. I didn’t want to sleep with bad guys just to get information—and Quinn was well aware of that fact. Hell, he
hated
the fact that I was doing it, so why not come forth with information if it could have prevented it?

“Because I did not know that your case and mine were one and the same.”

Mainly because he didn’t bother to check. But I resisted the urge to say the words out loud. Those inside the house were still talking, and right now, getting information that might end this case was far more important than sorting out a vampire determined to get his own way—whether it be on the case or in our relationship.

“He could destroy us again if we do not proceed cautiously,” the deep voice said. “He is one of the few on this earth who even remembers us as anything more than legend.”

“So, we sit around and twiddle our thumbs until his life force becomes strong enough for the demons to track?”

“No,” Maisie said. “I intend to conjure a stronger class of demon, but it takes time to summon them. I’ve had to send the sub-demons back to hell so I have the energy reserves required.”

I glanced at Quinn as Jin began questioning Maisie further. “Sounds to me like we need to contain Maisie Foster.”

“If we take her out of the picture, we warn the others.”

“They already know you’re after them.”

“But they do not know the Directorate is after them.”

I snorted. “If these are the people responsible for the sacrifices, then they
know
we’re after them.”

“But they are not yet aware how close you are to them.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that—we think Gautier’s one of them. The death head, in fact.”

He glanced at me sharply.

“Yeah,” I added. “We figured out some of the history. But it’d be nice if you took some time out of your busy schedule to fill in the blanks.”

“If Gautier
is
the death head, then Jin knows you’re a guardian. That makes it even more important that you stay away from him.”

“He doesn’t know.”

“You cannot be sure—”

“I can, because the one thing Gautier wants, besides power, is my destruction at his hands. He’ll give up his soul, he’ll give up control of his body, but he won’t give up that.”

“You’d trust your life on that fact?”

“Yes.” I glanced back at the house. “If we snatch Maisie, they’ll just think that you took her out.”

He studied me, his features carefully neutral. It was a look I’d seen many times before—usually right before he told me some lie.

“Maisie Foster is an extremely powerful sorceress. It will not be easy to take her out.”

“Even so, it’d be a hell of a lot easier to remove her from the scene than one of the dragons, wouldn’t it?” It was a question aimed more at Rhoan than Quinn. I had no doubt that, between me and Quinn, we could handle Maisie, but I didn’t want to do anything without official approval.

“Capture her, you mean?” Quinn asked.

I nodded. “I’m sure Jack will want to chat with her.”

“She will never ‘chat,’ nor could Jack or the Directorate contain her.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because, as I said, she is an extremely powerful sorceress. Magic cannot be contained by psychic powers or technical devices.”

“But it can be contained via other means?”

“Yes.” He hesitated. “To be honest, I do not think the effort worth it. She will die before she tells us anything about her master.”

“John Kingsley is her half brother, not her master.”

“John Kingsley no longer exists. Nor do any of the other men inside that house. They are merely living, breathing receptacles for the spirits of evil.”

Jin and that blond man I’d seen in the fitness club
might
be just shells, but the creepy spirit I knew as Gautier was still well and truly present. I shivered, and tried to ignore the fact that I’d been fucking something that didn’t even belong on this plane of existence.

“But how can spirits march in and take over someone’s body like that?”

“Magic. Blood magic.” He looked at me. “And they need regular, willing sacrifices to maintain their existence.”

“Hence the bodies we’re finding.” And the reason they were going after those with extreme sexual tastes. “Why willing victims? A sacrifice is a sacrifice, isn’t it?”

“The dragons may need the taste of pain, despair, and the fear of death to feed, but the god of darkness himself grows strong on the acquiescence to evil.”

“That doesn’t entirely make sense considering his dragons feed on pain, despair, and death.”

“But Angra Mainyu is the god of darkness, the eternal destroyer of good. He feeds on the
enjoyment
of darkness and death.”

This was all getting a little weird for me. “However much these people enjoy pain, I can’t see how they’d willingly go to their deaths. Have you seen what he does to these people?”

He hesitated. “Yes. But the desire for pain is often a growing one, and these people are carefully pushed to crave more and more, until only death will bring them the ultimate satisfaction.”

Visions of Jan rose. The mess of her back, the way she needed—begged—for me to finish it. How long had Jin and his cronies been working her up to that point? How long would it be before she became the next victim found neatly sliced and diced on some warehouse floor?

“Trouble is,” I said, repressing a shudder, “he doesn’t just feed on the joy of killing them.”

“No. The flesh of heart and liver and kidney are sweet on the tongue.”

“I do not even
want
to contemplate how you know that.”

The smile that touched his lips was gentle, and yet somehow sad. “I have been a vampire a very long time, Riley. And all vampires, whether they admit it or not, have their dark times.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to know about them.”

“You should, because they are a part of what I am.”

“And a werewolf is part of what I am, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to circumnavigate the fact.”

He didn’t answer, just looked back at the house. When you didn’t want to answer a question, ignore it. That was Quinn’s usual mode of operation, and it was getting more and more annoying.

And yet, I had to admit it was contradictory to want to know about his past, and yet not know about his dark times. I surely couldn’t have one without the other. Not if I truly wanted to understand this vampire.

“And Jan?” Jin said, as I returned my attention to the house. “When will she be recovered enough to move?”

“Perhaps tomorrow,” a fresh voice said. It took me a moment to realize it was Marcus, the whip-happy blond from the club. “We applied Jin’s salve, and the healing is progressing satisfactorily.”

“Then tomorrow night. We shall meet and see how suitable she is.” He paused. “Jin, bring an appropriate partner.”

“A testing may not be a wise move with O’Conor and the Directorate on our tail,” Maisie commented.

“It cannot be helped,” Kingsley said, voice a lash of anger. “Unless you wish to contribute your own flesh again so soon?”

Maisie’s shudder ran down the mental lines, becoming my own, even though I had no idea what Kingsley actually meant—and no desire to find out. “I’m only looking out for your safety, John.”

“I know. But I need a full blooding. If you raise another demon before then and kill Quinn, it should not be a problem.”

“I have only so much blood in my body, John. I cannot—”

“You can, and will. I need six more victims to sustain my existence on this earth. After that, we are less vulnerable.”

I glanced at Quinn. “Did you know this?”

He nodded.

“Then why have you not gone after them?”

“Because I am a vampire above everything else, and vampires have restrictions.” He motioned toward the house. “If they do not move from their lair, I cannot kill them.”

“Maisie moves.”

“Maisie was my one and only connection to the others. I could not kill her until I had found all the tendrils of this evil.”

“Then why won’t you take Maisie out of the picture now that we’ve found all the players?”

“Because, as I’ve said, it would warn the others and perhaps send them undercover again.”

Inside the house, Maisie said, “We cannot risk raising too much magic at the moment.”

“The house is secure enough. As is the altar.”

“Yes.” But there was doubt in Maisie’s voice.

“Just got word from Jack,” Rhoan said into my ear. “If Maisie’s the one raising demons, get rid of her as soon as you can.”

“He doesn’t want to talk to her?” I had a job to do, I knew that, just as I knew taking Maisie out would save others from suffering. But I couldn’t help the reluctance to take that final step and kill on command.

Quinn gave me an odd look, then glanced at my ear and smiled grimly. Obviously, he’d forgotten I’d been permanently bugged.

“He says it’s too much of a risk if she’s the blood sorceress.” Rhoan paused. “We can swap if you like. I’ll take her out, and you take over monitoring.”

“No, it’s okay.” It wasn’t, but I wasn’t about to let Rhoan step into dangerous situations just because I had issues. Hell, it wasn’t as if I
hadn’t
killed before, and Maisie was every bit as bad as the men whose lives I’d taken in the past.

But it was just one more step. One more slash at my futile determination not to walk that path.

I blew out a breath and looked at Quinn. “Any idea how to take out a sorceress?”

“I do not think this a wise course just yet.”

“She’s already raised one lot of demons to hunt you down, and she’s been ordered to raise another. There’s no saying she won’t also send them after me or Rhoan or Jack. And unlike you, our life forces can’t just conveniently fade. Nor do any of us have a clue on how to deal with a demon.”

“I’m not saying we can’t kill her, just saying it would be better if we delay until we find the gate through which she is bringing the demons.”

I blinked. “A gate? Demons have a gate?”

His all-too-brief smile had my hormones sitting up and taking notice. Not that they ever needed much encouragement. “Spirits and demons can’t tear their way into our world willy-nilly, you know.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” I guess. “But what about souls, ghosts, and the like?”

“Souls are the essence of people who live and die in this world. They do not hang around, but move quickly into the next life. Ghosts are souls who are pinned to this plane of existence for some reason.”

Some of that I actually knew, but it was nice to have confirmation that there wasn’t some permanently opened gate into the netherworld through which these apparitions could come through and taunt me. Especially given the recent developments in my clairvoyant talents. Ghosts and souls popping in for a quick chat at all hours of the night was
not
something I particularly wanted.

“So what does a demon gate look like?”

“It’s not actually a gate, as such. It’ll be a specially cleansed area that contains a magic circle and most probably a pentagram. In this case, an upside-down one.”

I rubbed my head. This stuff was certainly a lust killer—as he had probably intended. After all, he might want me, but he’d never been one to give in to desire when on a hunt. “So a magic circle contains the demons?”

“No. It’s a sacred and purified space where magic—in this case a summoning—can be safely performed. It serves as a boundary for the power and is the doorway from this world to the spirits.”

“And the pentagram?”

“An upside-down pentagram is said to be the sign of evil.”

“Said to be?”

He shrugged. “A pentagram facing north can cause great problems, as north is associated with darkness and the unknown from pagan times.”

“How do you know all this crap?”

His smile was almost bitter. “I am a very old vampire, and sometimes easily bored.”

“Uh-huh.” I had a feeling the thing I’d met in the alleyway—the thing who’d called himself a high priest of the Aedh—might also have a whole lot to do with his knowledge.

“So where might we find this circle?”

“Somewhere she feels safe. Somewhere secure.”

“Her house?”

“Possibly. But I cannot enter that place to check.”

“I can.” And I had a somewhat legitimate excuse for being there if caught—Jin. “We can use our telepathic link. I’ll describe what I’m seeing, and you can tell me how to destroy it.”

He glanced at the house, then at me. “The minute we destroy the circle, she’ll feel it.”